After months of deliberation, the Oceana County Board of Commissioners has tentatively decided to pursue options to recuperate the Crystal Valley Dam to within the newest standards set by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE). Commissioners were provided the full report of the inspection EGLE had conducted on the dam a couple days prior to their Oct. 8 meeting. Also provided was a letter from Lee Hyslop, deputy supervisor of Crystal Township, providing the township’s plan to keep and assist in the restoration of the dam, as was requested by the board earlier this summer.
Commissioners have 60 days to respond to the report and provide to EGLE the revisions they have in place to either rehabilitate the dam or remove it. In prior discussions regarding the fate of the Crystal Valley Dam, it was determined that either option would result in a significantly expensive project, both of which have little to no support through grant funding. Undertaking a project of that expense - which, if ignored, could result in fines or criminal liability for the county - has resulted in previous commissioners “kicking the can down the road,” as is the operative term used by the current commissioner board.
As Board Chairman Robert Walker put it, “The Crystal Valley Dam - it just seems like it’s an elephant that keeps growing, as far as every time we turn around there’s more cost, there’s more things [EGLE] wants added to it.”
At this point in time, commissioners estimate the cost of dam rehabilitation in the ballpark of $1.7 million. The decision posed by Walker to the commissioners at the meeting was to focus in on a direction and start budgeting accordingly. “We don’t want to pass this off to another board of commissioners. We don’t want to pass this down to our children. If there’s a decision and we can stabilize it, we need to work forward to it.”
Commissioner Paul Erickson has been an advocate for restoring the dam and is of the opinion that the project could be completed for much cheaper than $1.7 million. Erickson’s plan, as collaborated on with Hyslop, is to drive sheet steel into the dam for stabilization, pour concrete to widen the existing spillway and fill voids with polymer foam. Some of these solutions have been acceptable in other county parks projects, such as at Gale’s Pond. Said Erickson, “I do believe we have the resources and the contractors in our county that would be able to do a much more economical repair to that dam that would last generations.”
Commissioners Craig Hardy and Tim Beggs cited specifics in the inspection report that already drew concerns for the working stabilization plan. Beggs also doubted EGLE regulators would agree to the solutions proposed and insisted that they should seek approval, in writing, before moving forward with construction, which Erickson assured was always the plan.
Hyslop was then invited to participate in the discussion and present further on the proposed rehabilitation plan. He believes that there are tangible solutions to the issues raised in the report, many of which are feasible to the county, and that the most pressing issue is to create an operation and maintenance plan. Referring to the 10 concerning items referenced in the report’s conclusion, Hyslop explains that “five of them are maintenance, four of them are monitors (and) one (is) engineering… I think we can solve that.”
Hyslop also acknowledged that the costs of implementing any of these solutions are unknown, which he views as a “whole different discussion.”
For now, the most pressing issue is providing EGLE with a plan. As Erickson put it, “we’re a low hazard dam… [EGLE] is not going to run in here and demand we remove it at this point if we do show that we’re making progress… we’re not really on their radar.”
With 60 days to respond, Walker requested Erickson and Hyslop proceed with addressing the 10 concerns laid out in the report and move forward with finding quotes for their solutions in the next month.
While commissioners have forward momentum in one direction, doubt over the dam’s future and which course of action is best for the county both fiscally and environmentally was apparent at public comment. Garry McKeen, chair of the county parks commission, warned commissioners that the dam restoration is “not as simple as calling up local people,” and that the board would “be very short-sighted” if they did not begin collaborating with structural and environmental engineering firms.
“Crystal Valley is just one of those things that - once and for all - needs to be solved. And kicking it down the road and trying to do this and that, it's just not going to go forward anymore. Eventually, we’re going to wind up with the dam gone. Maybe not in our lifetime, but every four years we get almost the same [inspection] report," McKeen said.
Also at public comment were three Pentwater residents, all outdoorsmen and members of the Friends of Pentwater River, Watershed and Lake Association. Commenters brought up the effect dams (both the Crystal Valley Dam and those constructed on private property) have on watersheds and the environmental risks those dams particularly pose to the Pentwater River’s temperature, sediment and diverse array of fish species. Said Rich Pugsley, chairman of the Friends of Pentwater River Watershed, “There’s a lot of criteria for your decision. I just hope that the watershed considerations that I’ve gone through are part of them. The watershed is ours to protect; we’ve got something worthy of protection going forward.”
Commissioners, at the request of Walker, also put a resolution on the agenda regarding the county’s involvement with the preservation of the historic Red Barn, officially recognizing that the board will not get involved in the barn’s preservation and that, as explained by Walker, “we focus our resources on maintaining and completing the projects started already with our parks division.”
Erickson, who had been campaigning for over a year for the county to take stewardship of the building, reported to the board that the Oceana County Historical & Genealogical Society “has undertaken that task” to take in and preserve the barn, should the DNR award stewardship. That being said, Erickson still hoped that there could still be a future in which the Red Barn could become a county park, and as such, he was the lone dissenter of the resolution.
Also at the meeting was Linda East, chair of the County DHHS and Medical Care Facility Board, updating commissioners following one year of their appointing her. East described her time as “a challenging year, but a productive year.” East also introduced the newest facility administrator, Sally Choponis, who’d taken on the job back in February and whom East praised, “We really got very fortunate that we had a local person with all of these [qualifications] to join us.”
Choponis also reviewed her past nine months as administrator, sharing with commissioners that “there’s been so much progress” since her first day.
Continued Choponis, “We’ve worked on operational changes, trying to make processes more efficient. We’ve looked at leadership to strengthen those areas… My goal is to be a good steward… Our mission is to make sure that the residents that live there live the best quality of life they can.”
